


Days Passed Slowly (But You Gave Me Hope)

by monograph



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Pining, Pre-Canon, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-30
Updated: 2017-05-30
Packaged: 2018-11-06 21:13:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11044461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/monograph/pseuds/monograph
Summary: Maybe things would soon change for him too.|It was a time when there were endless possibilities, when Riverdale was as it should be, and Betty hadn’t left for her internship yet.Jughead was introspecting on the bank of Sweetwater River when he met Betty, and they have a conversation.





	Days Passed Slowly (But You Gave Me Hope)

**Author's Note:**

> This is a very short fic, but I hope that you'll like it! 
> 
> The title is from Oh Wonder's Ultralife.
> 
> Thanks to k for reading this over and helping me.

It was summer.

It was a time when there were endless possibilities, when Riverdale was as it should be, and Betty hadn’t left for her internship.

Jughead was walking. He was on the bank of Sweetwater River; the water gleamed bright blue under the bright sun. It was quiet expect for the burble of water, and the rustle of leaves. The atmosphere that surrounded Jughead had inspired poets and authors before, and promised inspiration right now. Yet, Jughead didn’t stop, or take out his laptop. His mind was preoccupied with things other than writing a story.

He thought about the summer that stretched like a desert in front of him. Dry, endless, dull. He wouldn’t be doing what others did because he didn’t want to, and also – more importantly – he didn’t have anyone to do normal, teenage stuff with.

 _Normal_ , he snorted.

But there was an oasis in the desert: his road trip with Archie. That was still further away though, and Jughead was still left weeks of blank hours and boredom punctuated by his work hours – not that many people came to the drive-in these days – and hours spent at Pop’s, working on a story that didn’t want to be written.

Birds chirped and trilled, the water rippled and lapped against the bank. Jughead lost himself in his thoughts because he couldn’t muster the strength to keep them at bay. His thoughts were rarely linear. They were a jumble were of several lines of thought: his mother and Jellybean, his father’s never ending promises, and a mountain of broken ones, his writing, and his broken friendships. His thoughts were often not pleasant. Far from pleasant, actually. They were almost dark.

He spoke intermittently to Archie still, to plan their route, to draw lists, and to fantasise about what they’d do. But, Jughead wanted the conversations of past. He wanted the never ending chatter, and the ease of familiarity. Not these insubstantial words which were limp and discoloured as they passed through a veil of distance, and unfamiliarity. Maybe this trip would change things. Maybe they would become close again. There would be a better change in their friendship than the change that time and age had wrought earlier. Excitement swooped through his stomach.

“Jughead! Wait up!”

Jughead turned, startled. It was Betty, out on a run. She waved and ran towards him. There was that awkward pause that occurred when the one person is the further away than the other person. He watched her for a moment, and then looked at the river. He stared hard at the river, so that his eyes didn’t end up roaming and fall on her legs.

“Hi!” said Betty when she came near him.

“Hey,” he said with a nod. He folded his hands across his chest, and squeezed a little to gently remind his heart, _stop beating so hard_.

“How are you, Jug?” she asked, wiping her forehead with a towel.

“I’m fine,” he said because that was what was expected, and then he said, “How are you?” because he didn’t know what else to say.

“I’m doing well,” she said with a sunny smile. It didn’t reach her eyes.

She looked different now. There were changes because of age, yes, but there was tiredness around her eyes, and a smidgen of resignation in the way she carried herself. Jughead was silent, unsure of what to say. They had drifted apart too.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, breaking the silence.

“Practicing my skills at being a Byronic hero. You know, staring out at a distance and brooding,” he said with a quirk of his lips. Betty huffed out a laugh, and Jughead’s heart skipped a beat.

“Today’s a nice day. Great weather for a long run,” she said. She tightened her ponytail, and hung the towel around her neck.

Pleasantries and conversations about weather is what they’d come to, then. Jughead regretted his stupid joke. The boundaries were clear now; they were two people who had once been friends.

 _Why?_ He didn’t know the answer to that question. Perhaps he did, but he didn’t want to admit it to himself.

 _Maybe things will change_ , a voice whispered, and there was a pang of hope in his chest. _Maybe we’ll all be close again. The Three Musketeers._

“What are your plans for summer?” he asked. His mind skipped irrationally forward to a time when they would share milkshakes at Pop’s.

“I have a three month internship, so I’ll be leaving for that soon,” said Betty. “It’s a great opportunity.”

“That – that’s great,” Jughead mumbled. He shouldn’t be surprised considering the fact that she seemed determined to create a CV as long as _War and Peace._

“Yeah. Um – Archie was talking about the road trip you guys are gonna go on.” Her face lit up when she spoke Archie’s name. Jughead looked away from her, and from her sweet, giddy smile.

Archie and Betty, soon to be Riverdale’s golden couple. He ignored the bitterness that roiled in his stomach. No, he shouldn’t feel this. His... _crush_ – he rolled his eyes – wasn’t going to go anywhere.

“Yeah,” he shrugged, feigning indifference. “That’s what bros do, right?”

“Bro stuff, huh. Sounds interesting.”

Jughead nodded. “I think I heard Reggie once say it was the foundation of our society,” he said with a smirk.

“That sounds like something he would say,” Betty shook her head. “Anyway, I should get going.”

“Yeah, of course,” he said, moving aside.

“Nice meeting you, Jughead,” she said.

“You too.”

Betty smiled at him once, and he quirked a smile in return. Then she was gone, running further and further away, her ponytail swaying behind her. Jughead watched her for a long moment. He turned his gaze towards the river when she was a speck in the distance, hazy and blurry. The water gurgled softly, unbothered by teenage drama.

Suddenly, the shadows darkened when the clouds hid the sun. Jughead squinted up at the sky, and once he was sure that they weren’t going to get unseasonal rains, he turned and walked back to town slowly. He wanted a cup of coffee, and he decided to try a new plot this week.

**|**

Jughead’s hopes for change were far surpassed by the time summer ended. Everything changed in the blink of an eye: Archie ditched him and they were further apart than ever, Jason went missing, Jason was found murdered, and Riverdale was a pale echo of its former self.

Archie joined the football team, Betty joined the cheerleading team, and they seemed inevitable, but that didn’t happen. Then Jughead was talking with Archie again, and they were at Pop Tate’s where Betty was sitting with the new girl, Veronica.

Betty turned to look at him and Archie, and Jughead looked at her, and looked at her, his mouth dry and heart pounding. If everything was changing then maybe...

 _Yes_. Jughead made up his mind.

“Do you guys wanna join us?” Betty asked.

Jughead looked at Archie and then back at Betty. “Yes, but only if you’re treating,” he said.

Maybe things would soon change for him too.

The End. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are my lifeblood, no joke. I would appreciate it a lot!
> 
> You can always talk to me on [tumblr](https://jug-in-a-mug.tumblr.com/)


End file.
